Dog vs. cat

Blue is always attacking the dogs for little to no reason. She's a 16 year old cat whose sight is slowly failing and she's never been a huge fan of dogs. A while ago, she attacked Nigredo as he walked by. He skittered away as usual. He's used to having his legs pawed at by her.

BUT, just a second ago, Blue came to the door wanting a bit of a snack I have, and Nigredo wouldn't let her in, and stood his ground near the doorway. She hissed him and proceeded to try and get past him, and he smashed her with his paw. He didn't make any sounds, and as quick as he smashed her, he let her go and she ran away.

He smashed her by putting his paw on her shoulder blades/back area and literally pressing her into the floor. She hissed and made angry cat sounds, and he let her go instantly. She's not hurt and she was more upset than in pain. He's normally a gentle dog, and this isn't really like him. I'm not positive that he wasn't playing, but I've never seen him be rough with the cats before.

Think there is something to worry about? Nigredo didn't growl or make any noise and as soon as the cat reacted, he let her go. My mother is upset as it's her cat, but I don't think there is a lot to worry about. The cat has stuck claws in Nigredo, Jade, my previous dog Brownie, and my Pooks (a cat who is 6 lbs heavier and half her age) and she's managed okay so far.

I've heard that he simply just reached his breaking point, and that it will help the cat think twice before attacking next time. But she's old and though I think there is neigh zero chance Nigredo will attack the cat, I suppose she could do without being flattened. Any advice is welcome.

I would keep an eye on Pooks, cats dont show their pain and at 16 I dont think she can take the knocks as a younger cat could.
Pooks is being defensive. I think you are going to have to supervise more . If you see this situation again , step in between them , dont leave them to it .
Pooks sounds like my cat Kim , now at the Bridge. She was very stressy, reactive and defensive. She used to suffer from Feline Idiopathic Cystitsis which occured when she became stressed .

I expect Pooks feels chronically stressed more so now because she is old and vulnerable and is losing her sight.
I would buy a feliway defuser for her , this has been proven to help stressed cats .
http://www.feliway.com/uk/Feliway/Feliway-Diffuser

Her name is Blue, Pooks is my cat and is fine. Thanks. She's always been mean to everyone and everything. She's pretty badly asthmatic, so I didn't want to try the feliway... She doesn't do well with fragrance or really any kinds of spray, she's even developed an issue with the Glade plug ins.

Sorry Myra , Just substitute Blue for pooks.

Is Blue having anything for her asthma? Does she have any other health problems ?
Maybe she has reasons why she is "mean" , the same as dogs do . Something that is small to us isnt to the cat.

maybe she is a solitary type of cat coping with living in an enviromment with dogs and another cat and that whats makes her "mean"

Myra, you said in another thread that one of your cats has FIC , the same as my Kim.
The main cause of this is stress and also a dry diet.


This link is useful

http://www.icatcare.org/advice/cat-h...c-cystitis-fic

Yes, Dibby. Blue is a one person solitary cat. But she belongs to my mother and mother just kind of demands the rest of us to make way for Blue. Blue got here at 6 weeks, and grew up with other pets and never took to them. She does have a go at dogs legs as they go by, and she used to fight with Pooks. Now she's so old she doesn't bother Pooks much.

She doesn't see as well now, and she is beginning to develop health problems. The asthma is recent, and she's getting more hairballs too. She's got Aller-Chlor, Prednisolone, and prescription hairball gel for all that. All her organs and joints are in excellent condition, though. She's actually pretty healthy for her age. I'll try and keep an eye on them, no doubt it was unpleasant to be smashed by Nigredo's big foot.

Pooks has FIC yes, triggered by grains. Ever since she was put on Merrick grain free, she's been doing excellent. We swear by the stuff. Took ages trying to find out what was wrong. Gave her normal canned, the issues came back. Gave her Blue Bufalo grain free, didn't work. Got all kinds of AB etc. to no avail. Kept trying and finally on the Merrick she's been great for years. It drove us and, it did.

Yes more than anything I would be concerned about Blue's health. When you mentioned the pinning part I nodded my head and smiled. I would just be worried about Blue since she's old and maybe fragile to rough housing. Our cat Mr Foot wants to be a dog. Really, he eats with them, sleeps with them, joins them for dog treats. But you should see him and Callie have it out sometimes.

He'll sit and stare at Callie who will growl and grumble and make the scariest sounds...and they just keep staring until they get bored of that game, I see two male humans grabbing their crotches and trying to intimidate the other. Or Foot will lay out across the stairs or a doorway. " Oh Mommy just walked through here and you want to follow her? No I don't think so". His tail will be lashing, he knows exactly what he's doing. And the dogs will whimper until a human moves him. But Callie will sometimes take a paw and pin him to the floor, usually getting several claws in the nose. But scary as it can seem I know it isn't serious because they've done it a thousand times before.

I think pinning is the way a cat-socialized dog says "Okay that's quite enough you dumb cat, end it now". The point is that either of our dogs could easily kill a cat instantly if they wanted to. But Callie is just making noise and holding him down briefly instead. I can't judge your dogs but it might be the same idea.

Thanks, she's old and her health is naturally waning, but they are just nuisance issues so far, nothing serious such as renal or heart failure. Nigredo is a gentle guy, so I'm sure that was just his breaking point. At 91 lbs, like you said, kitty would be mincemeat if he wanted her to be. At this point, her health will continue to decline. I just wish to avoid anymore kitty smashing, if possible.

OIC I only mentioned it because you said she gets it about a few times a year a so I assumed it was an on going problem .

The ABs are useful because although bacteria doesnt usually cause FIC , cats can pick up a secondary infection due to the thin lining of the bladder or the inflamed urethra.
It took me two years to sort out kim , she had allergies as well. The diffuser was a great help as was the GAG supplement which lined her bladder.

Yes, she has one or two flare ups a year. She had none last year, though. I can usually see one coming, she begins to spend longer times at the water bowl. This is compared to constantly peeing blood and being in distress. So yes, excellent compared to her previous horror. As you likely know FIC often returns regardless of the treatment. That's part of what makes it "idiopathic". She was literally peeing pure blood.

Pooks has the fewest episodes on Merrick grain free, yet Blue Buffalo grain free didn't help much. But we still think it's a grain issue. AB worked at first, but then less. But she gets them if she has a flare up. I suppose they help, IDK. We were told to salt her food to get her to take in more water. That seemed dumb but we do it during a flare up anyway. Not all cats can be rid of FIC, and we were told to switch to raw, but of course she wouldn't touch that.

Her teeth are disgusting, and she eats mostly dry, so switching to canned seemed like a silly idea. She's tartar prone. In any case, she's a really relaxed cat for the most part. I think as Blue aged and stopped being so mean, she mellowed out a little. Again, I don't think the diffuser is good for Blues asthma, so of course I'd never buy it for Pooks.